Soon-to-be Grad Livingstone Stepping Up as a Leader for USF Football
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, MAY 1, 2019 – Soon-to-be graduate
Kirk Livingstone has gone above and beyond to make sure he's a senior USF football can depend on for guidance in 2019.
Scheduled to receive his health sciences degree Thursday, the defensive end strengthened his team-building techniques and communication skills while attending the
NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum April 11-14 in Orlando.
"I have to be one of those guys that steps up and that's not afraid to speak, especially when things aren't going so well," Livingstone said. "I can't be that guy that sits back."
Created in 1997, the Leadership Forum has provided more than 5,000 student-athletes with a unique opportunity to grow both personally and professionally through self-building, group activities and networking in addition to participants receiving guidance from guest speakers. Livingstone was one of more than 300 student-athletes from Division I, II and III programs across the country who were joined at the event by coaches and administrators.
"The basic concept of what the whole thing was is when you're going through situations as a person and as someone who leads, you always revert back to your core values," Livingstone said.
A valuable member of USF's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Livingstone was glad he was nominated for the event that allowed him to reflect on his beliefs and talk about things that are paramount to him like family, faith and authenticity in a group setting of 30 individuals.
"It was so much learning about yourself, stuff that you kind of knew but I guess sometimes it has to get brought to you to kind of see," he said. "Meeting all those people and being in a space like that where you're just always learning and you're able to share your thoughts, no one is really going to judge you."
Although he's a ferocious tackler at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, Livingstone is a polite, gentle giant off the field and hasn't always liked to voice his opinion in a group setting as quickly as he pursues quarterbacks in game situations. He will bring 102 career tackles and 21.0 tackles for loss, tied for most among Bulls returners, into a senior campaign in which he plans to assert himself more.
"I'll never be the type of guy that's like a rah-rah type of guy, but I definitely wanted to become more vocal," he said.
Now a senior, Livingstone knows speaking his mind is important, especially when it can provide a positive influence. Fortunately for Livingstone and the Bulls, the four-day Leadership Forum got him "comfortable being uncomfortable."
"I have to be one of those guys that's not afraid to step in front of the group and just talk," he said. "Be genuine, just be authentic."
Combine that with the way Livingstone tirelessly leads by example and you have a go-to Bull teammates can look up to.
Last Wednesday, Livingstone received the Male Scholar Athlete award in front of all his student-athlete peers at the seventh annual
Stampede of Champions event inside the Yuengling Center. In the fall, he joined teammate
Jaymon Thomas in being selected for the Google Cloud Academic All-District team.
This Thursday, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native will walk across the Yuengling Center stage and continue his family tradition. His parents, Marion and Dave, both immigrated to the United States from Jamaica and graduated from Florida International University.
Livingstone is one of 49 USF student-athletes projected to participate in
spring commencement ceremonies this week, including 11 members of head coach
Charlie Strong's football program.
"I think once I get there, there will be a moment that I just kind of look back," Livingstone said. "There definitely have been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of hard work, especially with football, school and managing the outside things, too."
After Thursday, Livingstone looks forward to conquering more classes required to eventually become a physician's assistant once his football career concludes.
"I remember speaking to my mom about it. The profession is so flexible," he said. "My main goal is to help with kids, just help kids get better and things like that."
Livingstone calls this upcoming fall "probably my hardest semester that I've taken," and the reward would be a second degree in biomedical sciences that will prepare him well for grad school. Livingstone, who was spotted working in the gym with teammates Monday, also is excited about his senior season on the football field that could lead to more professional opportunities.
"I'm definitely going to see where football can take me and the doors that football will open," he said. "PA school will always be there. I just want to make sure after this fall that I have all of those classes, so then when I'm done with football I can look at the different schools."
Spoken like a true leader that younger Bulls should have no problem following in 2019.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
In just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
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